The CRM group formed itself early in August under the auspices of the ITA in South Africa with the objective to be the official representative group of this industry sector. Their work is aimed at demystifying the CRM business philosophy; it will look at all the touch points of CRM and within the ITA create a reference point for existing and potential members of the ITA involved in CRM or about to purchase CRM. The group consists of supplier, consultancy, training provider and end-user companies to ensure that the whole philosophy is analysed and addressed from all angles.
One of the primary objectives of the group is to provide credibility to suppliers in terms of their output and to create a reference centre for potential buyers of CRM. Being a member of the group will ensure that potential buyers will have peace of mind in terms of the quality output. The suppliers will form and sign a Code of Conduct to ensure their work and product will conform to a set of minimum standards. It is a condition that beneficiaries and participants of the group are members of the ITA.
The group will furthermore provide valuable input in terms of the Standards Generating Bodies of SAQA and ETQA within the ISETT SETA.
A working group was formed to draft a white paper which will become the basis of their work. Points included in the white paper, are inter alia:
Definition of CRM as a business philosophy
Segmentation of the sub-sets of CRM
Graphical presentation of how the sub-sets link together
List of terminology and acronyms
Define supply-chain of CRM
Minimum performance requirements of a supplier
Creating a code of conduct for suppliers
Minimum performance requirements of a product
Segmentation of products in terms of position
Strategies to achieve CRM success
Measuring return on investment
Definition of human resources required for optimal return; defining job spec and skillset
Gap analysis grid
Defining cost components and produce reference grid
Marketing & promotion of CRM
Forming a Customer Council with a helpline, reference centre etc
Establishing expectations of and deliverables to various audiences as result of the group`s work
It is expected that the paper will be presented at an open meeting in October to which the broad IT market will be invited to attend.
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